Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby Swinging On A Star: The War Years 1940-1946 (Little, Brown) Seventeen years following his initial installment, Gary Giddins continues the story of the man who absorbed and internalized early jazz values in the 1920s and became the most important popular singer in the world. Crosby retained that distinction until the expanding dominance of Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and then the advent of rock and roll. Crosby was a movie star whose early light-hearted screen work … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation, John Scofield, Combo 66 (Verve) “I Can’t Dance,” guitarist Scofield proclaims by way of his new album’s opening track. It may be the rare listener, however, who won’t be moved by his quartet’s rhythmic blandishments. It is difficult not to boogie around the room—or at least groove in place—as Scofield, pianist and organist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart expand on nine Scofield compositions that merge down-home verve with the … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Reunion 7Tet, (Rob Bargad & Others), A Field Of You (Barnette) Once a year, a band of musicians who go back a long way together gather for a two-night gig at Smalls jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Nominally under the leadership of pianist Rob Bargad, on their last visit they recorded an album at the New Jersey studio called Trading 8s. Bargad explains that they chose the studio for two reasons: its rebuilt 1954 Steinway B grand piano and the recording … [Read more...]

Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf, Science Fair (Sunnyside) Pianist Staaf and drummer Miller pool their experience and talents in an album that also has superior performances by three guest artists with impressive track records of their own. Firmly established in the New York City jazz milieu, Miller and Staaf welcome bassist Matt Penman, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens. The tune list encompasses several compositions by each of the co-leaders. Miller’s opening … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation, Emil Viklicky, Humoresque (NCML) Last spring Czech pianist Emil Viklický’ traveled from Prague to visit relatives in the American Midwest. Never one to forego a playing opportunity, while he was there he gave a concert at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of several he has performed there for enthusiastic partisan audiences. With Viklický was bassist Petr Dvorský, a prominent member of the Czech jazz community since his 1990 … [Read more...]

Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings Any Monk collection without the Prestige dates is missing the pianist’s early partnership with Art Blakey, who is considered by many musicians and critics to have been Monk’s ideal drummer. As mentioned in the Rifftides Labor Day 2018 posting of their recording of Monk’s composition “Work,” this set captures the two collaborating in the Monk staples “Little Rootie Tootie,” “Bye-Ya,” and “Monk’s Dream.” The box also contains classic Monk … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Luciana Souza, The Book Of Longing (Sunnyside) Returning to recording, Luciana Souza is inspired by poetry. The Book Of Longing finds her drawing inspiration from poets of two centuries and singing three new songs of her own. Bassist Scott Colley and Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro accompany her, enhancing the album’s moods, using counterpoint as commentary. Both solo with distinction. Colley is notably effective in Ms. Souza’s “These Things,” which has a nifty … [Read more...]

Toronto Jazz Orchestra, 20, (TJO) Something drifting down from Canada that is far less disturbing than the smoke you saw in yesterday’s post is an album celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Jazz Orchestra. Arrangements by the TJO’s director, Josh Grossman, include an extended four-part suite in tribute to one of his inspirations, the 95-year-old bandleader and arranger Phil Nimmons. Solo high points in the suite are by the incisive clarinetist Paul Metcalfe and pianist Carissa … [Read more...]

Karrin Allyson, Some Of That Sunshine (kasrecords) Ms. Allyson’s songwriting ability surfaced early in her career. In Some Of That Sunshine, it is on full display; she wrote all 13 songs in the album. With her superb rhythm section, two star guest artists—and on one R&B-ish track a spirited vocal group—it sounds as if she had the time of her life recording them. The songs range from the sentimental (“Home,” “You Don’t Care”) to wry humor that references the me-too movement (“Big … [Read more...]

Cyrille Aimée Live (Mack Avenue) Cyrille Aimée is not a gypsy, but she has Roma fervor and intensity reminiscent of Django Reinhardt’s. It’s no wonder; when she was a little girl in northern France she sneaked out at night to join the neighborhood gypsies who sang and played around their campfires. Some of them had known Reinhardt. Their spirit has never left her. She combines it with intensity and accuracy of musicianship that compel the audience to occasionally participate in this … [Read more...]

Milt Buckner: The Life and Music of a Unique Jazz Pianist and Organist (Woodward) Willard “Woody” Woodward writes a straightforward account of the career of the keyboard artist who pioneered the Hammond B3 organ in jazz. Milt Buckner paved the way for later organ heroes including Jimmy Smith, Don Patterson and—more recently—Joey DeFrancesco. His legacy encompasses the parallel-chords or locked-hands technique that Buckner developed as a pianist and transferred to his organ playing. Woodward, … [Read more...]

Roberta Piket, West Coast Trio, 13th Note Records The seasoned New York pianist traveled west to record with a sterling rhythm section of veteran Los Angeles players. The bicoastal combination clicked. Drummer Joe La Barbera, bassist Darek Oleszkiewicz, and—on two pieces—guitarist Larry Koonse meld with Piket in a collection of standards and originals by her and others. After Piket wrote “Mentor,” she discovered that it reminded her of her former teacher Richie Beirach and dedicated it to … [Read more...]

On Call: Peter Erskine & The Dr. Um Band (Fuzzy Music) Erskine’s quartet luxuriates in excitement that recalls and updates his achievements as Weather Report’s keystone drummer.  Later when he was with Steps Ahead,  that group further contributed to electronica as a legitimate jazz movement. The band features saxophonist Bob Sheppard, John Beasley playing keyboards, and the ebullient electric bassist Benjamin Shepherd. As it has for decades, Erskine’s drumming incorporates rhythmic … [Read more...]

Jim McNeely, The Frankfurt Radio Big Band, Barefoot Dances and Other Visions (Planet Arts) McNeely fortifies his position in the upper echelon of jazz arrangers in this set of new pieces for the formidable Frankfurt Radio Big Band. The album begins with his tribute to the late Bob Brookmeyer, “Bob’s Here.” Despite the dedication to the iconic player of the instrument, Christian Jaksjö manages to be himself on valve trombone. Indeed, all of the Frankfurt BB soloists—too many to name in a brief … [Read more...]

Lilian Terry, Dizzy Duke Brother Ray And Friends (Illinois) Lilian Terry’s book is full of anecdotes about her friendships with the musicians mentioned in the title—and dozens of others. Enjoying modest renown in Europe for her singing, Ms. Terry has also been involved in radio and television broadcasting and is a cofounder of the European Jazz Federation. Her activities brought her in close contact with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. She conducted extensive interviews … [Read more...]

Oscar Peterson Plays (Verve) In this five-CD reissue, the formidable pianist plays pieces by ten composers who dominated American popular music for decades. Peterson had bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, succeeded by Herb Ellis. It's the trio that made Peterson famous with Jazz At The Philharmonic and--by way of the 10 albums reproduced here--on juke boxes and radio stations everywhere, when jazz was popular music. Among the songwriters are Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Duke … [Read more...]

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (ArtistShare) It has been a quarter of a century since Buddy Rich’s manager and relief drummer Stanley Kay found himself conducting a band whose drummer was young Sherrie Maricle. Intrigued by her playing, Kay set out to find whether there were other women jazz musicians of comparable talent. There were. DIVA was soon born and has been an important big band ever since. Its longtime leader, Maricle has booked the band into Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola … [Read more...]

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, After The Fall (ECM) In 1998 Keith Jarrett was emerging from a siege of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had sidelined him for two years. As he felt better, he was uncertain how completely his piano skill and endurance had returned. He decided to test himself. He gathered his longtime Standards Trio members—bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette—for trial runs, then decided on the challenge of a concert. In his album notes Jarrett writes … [Read more...]

Gerhard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic, Vol. I and Vol. II (University Press of Mississippi) The first volume of Kubik’s work is subtitled, “The African Undercurrent in Twentieth–Century Jazz Culture;” the second, “Jazz Derivatives and Developments in Twentieth-Century Africa.” The descriptions indicate the depth and scope of the Austrian ethnomusicologist’s research, which has taken him to Africa every year for nearly five decades. Happily for the general reader, Kubik’s writing and explanations … [Read more...]

Roberto Magris Sextet Live in Miami @ the WDNA Jazz Gallery (J Mood) Widely experienced and recorded in Europe, pianist Magris demonstrates in this club date that he knows how to reach an American audience steeped in Latin and Caribbean music. The front line has trumpeter Brian Lynch at his fieriest, and the imaginative young tenor saxophonist Jonathan Gomez. The Miami-area rhythm section is the veteran bassist Chuck Bergeron, drummer John Yarling, and Murph Aucamp playing congas. The album … [Read more...]

Andy Sheppard, Romaria (ECM) The title tune, written and first recorded by the Brazilian Renato Teixeira, was made still more famous by the singer Elis Regina’s 1977 recording. It has been a beloved standard song in Brazil for four decades. British saxophonist Sheppard and his quartet hew to the spirits if not the letters of Teixeira’s and Regina’s versions. Guitarist Elvind Aarset manipulates electronics to create atmospherics that expand the quartet’s harmonies. If that raises warnings for … [Read more...]

Dawn Clement, Tandem (Origin) Dawn Clement’s recording history includes piano collaborations with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and trombonist Julian Priester, among other prominent colleagues. The Seattle Times has called her, “The leading Seattle keyboardist of her generation.” Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen calls her “…an eternal gift to the music.” Clement’s discography as a leader is growing, and this addition will almost certainly bring her increased attention. Tandem’s series of ten duets pairs … [Read more...]

Jeff Sultanof, Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener’s Companion (Rowman & Littlefield) The scope of jazz played by large ensembles is vast, but the clear-thinking scholar-musician Jeff Sultanof compresses its century-long history into a 200-page book. He accomplishes that feat by leading readers through big band music and its makers almost as if he had us by the hand. He does so by presenting musical examples that are part of the digital world in which most of us live. He explains on an … [Read more...]

Marilyn Crispell, Raymond MacDonald, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay: Two Duos, Three Trios (Bruce’s Fingers) The daring American pianist Marilyn Crispell’s free jazz adventures have more than once been compared to volcanic activity. Here, Crispell joins the Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald and the French-Canadian bassist and electronic adventurer Pierre Alexandre Tremblay. The project’s tectonic aspects alternate with moments so peaceful that they sometimes verge on the soporific—but not for … [Read more...]

  Director Étienne Comar’s Django portrays guitarist Django Reinhardt’s life during two years when it seemed that Europe might fall to Germany. His account emphasizes the greatness of Reinhardt’s music and the Nazis’ recognition of his extensive popularity. They coerce his collaborationist lover to persuade him to play in Berlin. Reinhardt chooses instead to escape to neutral Switzerland. In real life, his escape effort failed and he was returned to Paris. Reda Kater is credible, if … [Read more...]